Scuzz Sundays: The Darkness – ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’

March 27, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Permission To Land’ (LP/Album) (Released on July 7th, 2003) (via Atlantic Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us folk to spread the love to our elders for Mother’s Day with a ‘Scuzz Sundays’ anthem that vaguely resembles the theme in some way with yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Justin Hawkins – the frontman of Mercury Prize-nominated British Glam-Rock band The Darkness – has recently made a few appearances on television screens in the UK, first mentoring one of the teams of pensioner rock stars on BBC Two’s ‘Rock Till You Drop’, and appearing in a Karaoke segment for ITV 1’s ‘Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway’ to sing ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ for likely the three billionth time in his life, and so we’re going to remember his band’s arguably most well-known track – as I’d argue that ‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)’ may also take the cake for that title – for this week’s entry of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ as it is just a simple song about love that will resonate with many over the course of this Mother’s Day. In their time, The Darkness have headlined Download Festival in 2011 and the Isle Of Wight Festival in 2012 and, despite some of the original members splitting off to pursue seperate projects and Hawkins indulging his fancy in a few side projects over the years, they are still active today, having released a new album – ‘Motorheart’ – last year. ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ saw Hawkins’ band rise to prominence in 2000 because it reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart, beaten to the punch only by the similarly erm… lovely…. classic of ‘Where Is The Love?’ by The Black Eyed Peas. I bet you haven’t seen the video for a few years, so let’s get nostalgic with the piece below.

‘Permission To Land’ – the album that ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ was taken from as a single – is widely considered to be the catalyst for The Darness’ Brit Award-winning and Hammersmith-performing success, as it topped the UK Album’s Chart and it reached the top 40 of the Billboard 200 in the US. The memorable hook of “My heart’s in overdrive and you’re behind the steering wheel” was also reportedly inspired by the love of cars that Hawkins’ Dad has, according to Duncan Haskell of Songwriting Magazine. The rest of the track is crowd-pleasing and anthemic stuff, with catchy hooks like “I wanna kiss you every minute, every hour, every day/You’ve got me in a spin but everything is a-okay” and “There’s a chance we can make it now/We’ll be rocking till’ the sun goes down” that are straightforward and communicate the brash romanticism of the track in the clearest way possible. The bass and the drums are upbeat, while the vocals and the costumes scream 90’s Glam Rock with a hint of more progressive styles when the bulky, arena-sized guitar solo kicks in. You get a sense that the track was designed to build the solo’s as much as the repetitous chorus, and it was also designed to have the guitar breaks in it. Hawkins’ presence is a very charismatic one, although his screeching breaks could get a little tiresome for some. I also think it helps to complement the visual presentation too, where we’re getting traditional Glam Rock turned right up to eleven. Overall, ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ isn’t necessarily a track that I’m a particularly huge fan of due to its repetition and simple design, but it is a fun crowd pleaser that doesn’t take itself very seriously and it’s definitely more like “a stick it on at a wedding and everybody knows it” hit rather than anything complicated. They all played it straight.

Pictured: Justin Hawkins (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Keyboard), Dan Hawkins (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Frankie Poullain (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) & Rufus Tiger Taylor (Drums/Vocals) (2019) (Photo by Neill Barston)

That’s all of the love that I could muster up on the blog today! Once again, a happy Mother’s Day to all readers that it applies to, and thank you for supporting myself and independent creatives by following the site. It’s back to the daily grind tomorrow as we start off another week’s worth of posts by taking a more soulful route. We’re going to be listening to a recent single by a London-born R&B and Gospel singer who has earned national support from BBC Radio 1. He has toured with James Bay, Chance The Rapper and Allen Stone. His debut full-length studio LP, ‘Untidy Soul’, is out now.

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Today’s Track: Sunflower Bean – ‘Who Put You Up To This?’

March 24, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Julia Cumming (Bass/Vocals), Nick Kivlen (Lead Guitar) & Olive Faber (Drums) (2019) (Photo by AFP/Getty)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time to bring some warmth into the early going of your day with yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! ‘Who Put You Up To This?’ is one of the latest new singles by Sunflower Bean, a Brooklyn-based indie rock trio who will be kicking off their imminent UK tour with a live gig at Cambridge’s The Junction next week on March 30th. Since turning heads with their relentless touring schedule in mid-2010’s New York, as well as their live sets at CMJ Music Marathon in 2014 and South By Southwest in 2015, the Julia Cumming-led Psych-Rock trio have never shied too greatly far away from the mainstream eye by opening for high-profile names like Wolf Alice and Pixies. You may have also seen them supporting fellow Glam Rock-inspired veterans like Cherry Glazerr and Sleigh Bells too. Citing Tame Impala, Nirvana and The Cure as just a handful of their key influences over the years, Sunflower Bean have released their material on labels like Fat Possum Records and Mom + Pop Records since becoming active in 2013. The band’s upcoming third studio album – ‘Headful Of Sugar’ – will be released on May 20th via Lucky Number and it was produced and mixed by Jacob Portrait, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s bassist. To share about their new album’s themes, guitarist Nick Kivlen says, “We wanted to write about the lived experience of late capitalism, how it feels every day, the mundanity of not knowing where every construct is supposed to ultimately lead you. The message is in the title: this is about fast pleasures, the sugar of life, the joy that comes with letting go of everything you thought mattered”, in a general press release. Check out the lead single – ‘Who Put You Up To This?’ – below.

‘Headful Of Sugar’ is the follow-up to 2018’s ‘Twentytwo In Blue’ and they enlisted the talents of Brooklyn-based director Josefine Cardoni to create the music video for comeback single ‘Who Put You Up To This?’, of which Sunflower Bean comments, “Are you satisfied? Who put you up to do things that you do? Was it your own choice? Questioning your life is the first step to taking the agency to change it. Sometimes you have to let go of who you have been so that you can become who you want to be”, in a contemplative press release. ‘Who Put You Up To This’ is more relaxed than other recent singles like ‘Roll The Dice’ and ‘Moment In The Sun’ from the get-go, where it starts off with a whimsical lead guitar hook and a sultry backing vocal that feels laidback and dream-like, before the melodies slowly build to a more melodic sound with atmospheric keyboard riffs and a softer, light bass guitar riff that ticks along to the more dissonant and driving guitar lines. The vocals complement a tone of mixed emotions, where refrains like “If only I could feel so free/To call you now would be a breeze” where a sentiment of sadness hangs in the balance, yet more straightforward lyrics like “I’m burning up all the obligations, and I’m gonna take a permanent vacation” introduce more powerful and furious moments where Cumming conveys a message that is equally about starting a new chapter of your life while simultaneously shedding the skin of your former baggage. The pressure is released by aggrieved hooks like “I’m good enough for the main course, even if I’m the one that’s paying for it” that reflect on our choices of habits that lead to self-analyzing your deepest desires, while relieving sequences like “So tell me when you feel the need/We’re letting go for real” allows Cumming to untie herself from the unhealthy experiences that led to her actions taken in reflection of her experiences in an unhealthy relationship. There’s a tuneful guitar solo thrown into the mix for added texture, and the vaguely stop-and-start pacing is accentuated by a sentimental Horn riff that gives the track its mixture of somber moods and vibrant psychedelic melodies. Overall, ‘Who Put You Up To This?’ is an excellently crafted new single that reminded me of Kate Bush in its narrative-leaning structure and psychedelic concoction of Art Pop and Glam Rock influences. It feels like a break-up track with a difference, wherein the forceful sense of relieving yourself is flipping between the worst moments and the purely divine ones down a stream-of-consciousness route. There’s plenty to like here.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Headful Of Sugar’ (LP) (Released on May 6th, 2022) (via Lucky Number Records)

That brings me to the bottom of the page for another day! Thank you for checking out what I had lined up for your amusement today, as your support always means a lot to me, and we’ll be going down the lane of Techno, IDM and Electronica – three of my top-tier genres – for ‘New Album Release Fridays’ in 24 hours’ time. The record comes to your way by a London-based experimental electronic music producer who has received positive write-up’s from publications like Clash and he has released music on London-based label FIELDS and German label Traum Schallplatten. He has released remixes for Nils Frahm, Hot Chip, Guy Andrews, Sasha, Jim Wallis and countless more.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Gossip – ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’

March 16, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Beth Ditto (Vocals/Piano), Nathan Howdeshell (Bass/Keyboard) & Hannah Billie (Drums) (2019) (via PR)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to start spreading the word on the street (or the internet) that there is another daily track on the blog in town as we go retro for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Formerly known as ‘The Gossip’ – Gossip were a Beth Ditto-led punk rock band from Arkansas who were originally active between 1999 and 2016 who were another name in a fairly familiar string of Garage Rock Revival sub-genre bands like The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s and The Hives who were also popular in the contemporary mainstream of the time. Exploring a mixture of indie rock, post-punk revival and dance-rock influences, they gained some breakthrough in radio charts popularity with their 2006 track ‘Standing In The Control’, a glitzy Pop-Punk number that reached the top ten of the UK Singles Chart and it has appeared on decade-end lists like NME’s ‘150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years’ at the #34 rank on the list in 2011 and at #429 on Pitchfork’s ‘Top 500 Greatest Tracks Of The 2000’s’ list in late 2009. It was the lead single of Gossip’s third studio album of the same name released in 2006, which reached #1 on the UK’s Indie Chart and it has reached Gold status in the territory. Produced by Ryan Hadlock and Guy Picciotto, it was Gossip’s first album to feature new drummer Hannah Billie, of Seattle’s Chromatics fame. If you used to watch the British TV drama ‘Skins’ on E4, you would also know the track as it was proclaimed to be the ‘unofficial’ theme track of the programme as it featured heavily in promotional materials and it would be played on the DVD main menu’s of the series’ home release. Let’s remember it below.

The yellow, black and red graffiti-style cover artwork for the physical single release was designed by none other than Kim Gordon, the bassist of Sonic Youth. Meanwhile, the track itself was written as a response to the Federal Marriage Amendment, a highly controversial code of law that would have outlawed gay marriage across the US. With this theme in mind, the impassioned instrumentation and the reasonably soft, yet minimal and pulsating, lead vocals by Beth Ditto hit harder as a battle cry for empowered liberation than anybody who has ever felt constrained or marginalized may have expected from Gossip. Bursting out of the gate energetically with the unforgettable refrain of “Your back’s against the wall/There’s no one home to call/You’re forgetting who to call/You can’t stop crying” that boasts the core sentiment of denying the authorities’ will to make same sex marriage illegal, a process that feels alien today, which paves the way for Billie to hit her metronomic hi-hat snares and four-on-the-floor bass kicks with her ragged Punk-infused Drum parts, while guitarist Brace Paine contributes some vigorous bass lines and high-energy guitar riffs, that chug along to the distortion-drenched production of the thin and treble-enhanced range of melodies, to the equation. Ditto’s vocals earn a distinction among the wealth of other talents in the Garage-Rock revival business of the mid-00’s as they feel rather Bluesy, yet propulsive, with a smoky delivery on mid-chorus hooks like “You’ll live your life/Survive the only way that you know” and a commanding presence above the instrumentation that recalls the vintage Motown acts of the 70’s like Diana Ross and Ann Wilson in her wailing notes and her lengthily sustained filler phrases. The track also fits squarely into the DIY ethics of an underground Punk feminist movement of the 1990’s called the ‘Riot grrrl’ era in the way that Ditto’s band combine Punk music with Politics on this, probably, best-known single from them. ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’ feels like a natural blend between the two styles, and it creates a noticeable Disco edge too, as it feels impossible not to mindlessly nod your head along to the groove. It was unapologetically brash, and Ditto’s band were transformed from a clan of Dance-Punk disruptors to Pop phenomena in the process.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’ (LP/Album) (Released on January 24th, 2006) (via Back Yard Recordings/Kill Rock Stars)

That brings me to the end of another nostalgic throwback post on One Track At A Time, and I hope that you have a pleasant day, and thank you for showing your support for the site today. I’ll be diverting your attention back to brand new music tomorrow, as we review the latest single by a Grime-meets-Punk duo based in East London who have toured with hardcore rapper Nascar Aloe, supported Gallows at their comeback gig at House Of Vans in 2019 and were featured in a guest appearance on a BBC Radio 1 session by Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes presented by Annie Mac.

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Scuzz Sundays: The Pretty Reckless – ‘Make Me Wanna Die’

March 13, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Taylor Momsen (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Ben Phillips (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Jamie Perkins (Drums/Percussion) and Mark Damon (Bass Guitar/Acoustic Guitar) (2010) (Photo Credit: Music Hub – Fandom)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for me to offer up another Scuzz Sundays post that you would probably not be prepared ‘to die for’, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! One of the most commercially successful female-led bands of the Mascara-dripping 00’s going through the 2010’s was The Pretty Reckless, who are still active regularly today. Led by Taylor Momsen, who was previously known for being a teen TV star in productions like ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams’ – as well as playing the child role of Cindy Lou Who in the Jim Carrey version of ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ in 2000, the band have topped the US Album charts with albums like ‘Going To Hell’ and ‘Who You Selling For?’ and topped the US Rock Charts with fairly well-known singles like ‘Heaven Knows’ and ‘Messed Up World’. Momsen’s misfits last released ‘Death By Rock and Roll’ last year, which found her getting the chance to collaborate with legendary Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello for a track. ‘Make Me Wanna Die’ is instantly recognizable if you have seen the edgy comic book movie ‘Kick Ass’, which helped to bring actors like Chloe Grace Moretz and Aaron Taylor-Johnston some of their Hollywood stardom throughout the years since 2010. It was produced by Kato Khandwala, and it was the first track to be written for their debut album, 2010’s ‘Light Me Up’. It reached #16 on the UK Singles Chart, and it was initially described as a tragic love song inspired by Romeo and Juliet by Momsen.

‘Make Me Wanna Die’ is the first track that The Pretty Reckless wrote together as an ensemble, and it was based on a fictional story they created where the rough story of ‘Make Me Wanna Die’ tells the tale of a girl with a supernatural lover – a narrative which the vampire-loving Twi-hards of the 2010’s would have also loved – and her desires to be transformed into ‘one of them’ so they can both stay in love together, according to the Genius website. Starting off with some filter-like Mellotron flutes, Momsen sets the stage for her dark tale of lust and loss with her spoken-sung refrains of “Never was a girl with a wicked mind/But everything looks better when the sun goes down” and “I had everything/Opportunities for eternity/And I could belong to the night” that develop a brief backstory for her character. It’s nothing that feels rich in motive or Oscar-worthy performance, but it gets the job done. The verses represent a mix of angsty Grunge-enhanced Pop and stop-and-start Desert Rock, where the melodramatic lead guitar riffs are separated by short gaps and the jagged Bass guitar riffs complement the ‘Broken’ feel of the single’s emotional qualities. The chorus kicks in, with hooks like “Everything you love/Will burn up in the night” and “Every time I look inside your eyes/You make me wanna die” floating seemlessly above the Pop-Punk production. There’s also a little bridge where some overtly emotional Strings come in and there’s a short assortment of backing vocals that feel a little cheesy – for lack of a better term – but they provide some more variety to the track and ensure that it’s effect doesn’t ware so thin. Overall, ‘Make Me Wanna Die’ is a robust reminder of the days where guilty pleasure monster flicks like ‘Underworld’ and ‘Resident Evil’ were gaining some decent box office takings in the 00’s, as the lyrics complement the angsty yet dark tone of the creature features nicely and the looped percussion adds some little bells and whistles to the production. It feels a little bit overly theatrical at points for me, but it feels like a lot of fun nevertheless. It’s very inoffensive and harmless, although it wasn’t going to earn awards for innovation.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Light Me Up’ (LP/Album) (Released on August 27th, 2010) (via Interscope Records)

If that collaboration between Momsen and Morello sounds good to you, it is very convenient that it was actually covered on the blog prior to release. Check it out here:

‘And So It Went’ (feat. Tom Morello) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/03/06/todays-track-the-pretty-reckless-feat-tom-morello-and-so-it-went/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Death By Rock and Roll’ (LP) (Released on February 12, 2021) (via Fearless Records)

That brings us to the end of another entry of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ on the blog. Thank you for showing your interest in the site today as your continued support is always highly appreciated – and I’ll be back tomorrow to give you a taste of the latest track from a Manchester-based Art Pop band who have covered tracks by The Prodigy and Disclosure and they have gained support from sources as varied as ITV Granada and The Guardian. They are probably best known for singles like ‘Can’t Stop’ and ‘Nobody Scared’ that have been receiving daytime airplay from the BBC Radio 6 Music playlist.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Pat Benatar – ‘Love Is A Battlefield’

February 23, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Pat Benatar performing with Neil Girado in New York (2012) (Photo via Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke – and it’s time for you to sharpen your sword and pick your poison for yet another daily track on the blog, as we revive one of the most combative Synth-Pop hits of the 80’s for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, given that it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music each day! ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ and ‘Heartbreaker’ were just two of the biggest hits that New York-born 80’s singer Pat Benatar – who had eight consecutive Platinum-certified albums over in Canada – graced our ears with throughout the decade. However, none of the four-time Grammy winner’s hits struck quite the chord that 1983’s ‘Love Is A Battlefield’ had done with mainstream audiences and, although I often veer into the Alternative side of music for most of my musical musings, it is still important for us to remember that some of the artists that we all like have enjoyed commercial success. Often producing her music with guitarist Neil Giraldo, who also became her husband in the process, Benatar has had 15 top 40 singles on the US Billboard charts and she has sold a reported figure of over 35 million albums worldwide. ‘Love Is A Battlefield’ represented her move from melodramatic rock ballads to more melodic pop, and, even now, it is often still used to represent the sound of the 80’s, having been used recently in the hugely popular TV series ‘Stranger Things’. Memorable for its music video, which saw Benatar playing a rebellious young girl who runs away from home, the single was ranked at #30 of VHS’ list of the 100 Greatest Hits Of The 80’s and it reached the #1 spot in several territories, including Australia and The Netherlands, as well as the Rock Tracks Chart in the US, shortly following release. Let’s revisit it below.

Written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman, ‘Love Is A Battlefield’ was initially meant to be a mid-tempo ballad, but Benatar was the only one to really see potential in the track because the studio executives had originally disliked it. After a little bit of time monkeying around with husband/producer Neil Giraldo on the drum machines in the studio, they created the more electronic sound of the finished piece. You can still hear that the guitars are present, but it put a unique spin on rock ‘n’ roll music at the time and it was quite a large switch in sound for Benatar to make back then. Given that it went straight to #5 on the US Billboard Chart, however, it’s fair to say that her risk paid off nicely. Moreover, the lyrics are kept to the point with a self-explanatory nature, as the lead character feels scorned and scarred by love. Benatar keeps her vocal performance feeling dynamic, with a spoken opening refrain that battles with her cleaner verse, and some twisting effects in the chorus. Hook-based lyrics like “We are strong/No one can tell us we’re wrong/Searching our hearts for so long” prove that Benatar is capable of producing some decent, catchy lyrics. The soundscape consistently shifts, with the refrain of “You’re begging me to go/Then making me stay” leading the slower refrain in the bridge that keeps the emotive vulnerability of a ballad intact. You can definitely hear that it was originally going to be a ballad and see where the significant rewrites were made when you know the backstory, but that background also clearly has something to do with what makes the lyrics so punchy and what makes the instrumentation feel so strong. Going from slow and somber to angry and melodic, ‘Love Is A Battlefield’ was simply a great Pop song from the 80’s and the Synths suit her vocals in place of the heavy rock influences of her earlier work, and so it is no wonder that it became one of the 80’s most cherished recordings.

Pictured: Pat Benatar in a PR photoshoot for ‘In The Heat Of The Night’ (1979) (Photo via V13.net/Chrysallis)

That’s all for now! Thank you for enjoying another swift blast from the past with me, and I’ll be back tomorrow to take you through some more brand new music. My next pick comes from an Alternative Folk singer-songwriter from New Zealand who was spotted by Anika Moa, another Folk-Pop singer-songwriter from New Zealand, who asked her to support her that night after finding her busking outside of the venue that she was going to play at. She has since released music on 4AD, Spunk and Flying Nun, and her fourth full-length LP – ‘Warm Chris’ – is set for its release on March 25th, 2022.

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Today’s Track: Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard – ‘A Passionate Life’

February 8, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Tom Rees (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Zac White (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Ed Rees (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Ethan Hurst (Drums/Percussion/Unclean Vocals) (2021) (Photo Credit: Lily Brown)

Good Morning to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke and you’re tuned into One Track At A Time, as usual, where we are gearing up our ear’s engines for yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A 4-piece of Welsh Glam Rockers who are in love with the classic rock greats like T-Rex and AC/DC, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard are another emerging band who have picked up support from all the usual places – like BBC Radio 6 Music, So Young Magazine, NME and more – over the past handful of years since forming out of lead vocalist Tom Rees’ bedroom in 2016. The band hope to continue finding their breakthrough when their debut studio album – ‘Backhand Deals’ – releases on February 25th via Communion Records. The band will also be performing alongside Sir Tom Jones, Stereophonics and Catfish & The Bottlemen at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in June 2022. Known for critically acclaimed singles like ‘John Lennon Is My Jesus Christ’, ‘New Age Millennial Magic’, ‘You’ and ‘Double Denim Hop’, they have been making a name for themselves on the UK’s live touring circuit and they have, in a funny story that comes courtesy of DIY Mag, named “the re-animated corpse of Bon Scott” as their dream collaborator. Rees said of their impending debut album in September, “Backhand Deals is a practice in subverting the ideology of rock music as something that needs to be ‘brought back from the dead’. Rock should be about enjoying yourself honestly, whether that’s washing the dishes, sweeping the yard, or complaining about whoever got elected. Rock is a sweeping power, and is attributed to anyone who performs art honestly, from Lizzo feeling good as hell to AC/DC riding down a highway to hell. The honesty is the same, and the honesty prevails”. Let’s check out their latest pre-release offering – ‘A Passionate Life’ – below.

The band will be making their debut in the US at SXSW in March, and Rees says, “A Passionate Life was written about striving to be a better friend, and not spending so much time on myself”, about the new single in a press release, adding, “I think the world is always telling you to focus on you, which is the right thing to do a lot of the time, but it’s easy work. I don’t think I’ll ever change, but wanting to change feels like enough for now. We’re all surface level creatures and just the thought of wanting to be a better person makes me feel like I am”, to his notes. Exploring the ideas of principle and authenticity, Rees sings contemplative lyrics like “What am I gonna say, When all of these songs, Just melt away” and “I know that I should call sometime, Ditch this ruse, that I’m towing the line time after time” as he reaches out to some reliable friends for emotional support and good company, while the instrumentation boasts an engaging mixture of plodding Piano stabs and floundering guitar rhythms that play out steadily. The chorus, where Rees mixes a sense of sarcasm and humor to the tune of “Sex appeal, is just a product of fear” and “When am I going to reveal/This phony charm” that untangles the stereotypes behind what it means to be a ‘rock star’ in the mass media and leaves the listener behind to reflect on their own emotions or thoughts. It feels more restrained than previous servings of comforting 70’s-influenced Rock that we’ve heard from the band, but it makes great use of some Elton John-style keyboard melodies that manage to feel a little melancholic and the understated guitar riffs that underscore the integrity of the vocals with a neat sense of production. They also lean into the tropes of the genre to pull the nostalgia card, with a chorus of ‘La-La-La’s’ towards the end that feels like a clear nod to the likes of The Beatles and The Kinks from earlier, and in many ways, simpler times. Overall, it makes great sense for Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard to enlist the references of their greatest influences for a track that is solely about the meaning of togetherness, and it absolutely feels like one of those mellow tracks that will help you take things down a peg when you feel like your mind is full of traffic. Strangely sweet and pretty poignant.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Backhand Deals’ (LP) (Available from February 25th, 2022) (via Commuion Records)

Thank you for checking out yet another very unique post on the blog, and we’ll be revisiting some of the most seminal sounds of the past with another weekly entry of ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ tomorrow. The next pick comes from a 90’s band led by a former promoter of Anthem’s TNA/Impact Wrestling promotion who we’ve covered on the blog previously, and they are still presently active. They brought ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’ to our lives in 1995, a record which topped the US Billboard 200 album chart upon release straight away. You could say that they were ‘Smashing’.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Marc Bolan & T-Rex – “Christmas Bop”

November 27, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Marc Bolan (from T-Rex) in a rare photoshoot (Date n/a) (Photo Credit: Roger Bamber)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and now is the time for you to relax, sit down and slurp your warm Gingerbread Latte as we continue our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ with yet another daily track on the blog, seeing as it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! As a legendary Glam Rock band who were inducted into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall Of Fame last year, T-Rex were a group of 70’s Psych-Rock icons – led by the famous English guitarist and poet Marc Bolan – who barely need any introduction from me. However, their yuletide anthem – ‘Christmas Bop’ – is a very different story. Despite my greatest efforts in researching the track’s rich history for this here entry on the blog, it remains to be one of, if not, Bolan’s most elusive records and I couldn’t pinpoint the song’s exact origins to a clear place. A popular story goes that Bolan originally recorded it in 1975 and he planned to release it with ‘Metal Guru’ and ‘Telegram Sam’ as a triple single on Vinyl, but that first iteration of the record was never released or printed because it was withdrawn due to Bolan’s fears of plagiarism, since he was mindful that EMI had experienced prior problems with George Harrison’s ‘My Sweet Lord’ due to similarities with Ronnie Mack’s ‘He’s So Fine’, however two of the labels that would have been pressed for the release have circulated around and sold at auction in November, 2004 for £896.00 as an antique. Rate Your Music also have a ‘Marc’s Christmas Box’ release of the original triple single dated for 1996. There is also another variation of the single in existence because it features some awful alternative cover artwork, where Marc is playing his guitar on a stage. Furthermore, it was also re-released as the ‘T-Rexmas’ EP by Bolan Boogie via Bandcamp in 2011. Therefore, I am thankful that we have YouTube in modern times to find the audio through. Check out the rare record below.

Another interesting fact about ‘Christmas Bop’ is that a small snippet of the track, featuring the backing vocals from his real-life girlfriend Gloria Jones, briefly appeared on a commercial for the US shop Target in 2011. ‘Christmas Bop’ was also, apparently, also included on 1994’s ‘Messing With The Mystic’ compilation of unreleased singles, as well as T-Rex’s ‘The Best Of The Unchained Series’ similar compilation dated for 1997. Bolan and his associated Children Of The Revolution may not seem like the most likely champions to back a Baby Born doll, but when it comes to advertising something like a giant LEGO dinosaur, it’s as logical a choice as any. Switching back to the task at hand, ‘Christmas Bop’ is a fairly conventional festive pop/rock crossover by usual standards. However, it noticeably pulls in some of the Disco and Soul ideas that Bolan was picking up from his girlfriend Jones at the time. It doesn’t lean into the darker influences of T-Rex’s discography, and it reminds me of The Beatles ‘Twist & Shout’ in the way that Bolan attempts to invent a new dance move for casual listeners to associate the music with. “T-Rexmas” is an amusing lyric, while he also commands us to perform actions like “Get on your silk jeans/And your space shoes” and “Hey baby, lend me your ear/Christmas time is drawing near” to give the vocals their warm, upbeat and involving character. While it may sound like Bolan is aiming for primary school disco’s by my description, he luckily embeds some instrumentation that feels more eclectic than your bog-standard 70’s Christmas song into his assortment of sounds. Therefore, it still feels more like a T-Rex song in essence than a Pop song that Phil Spector would have likely been producing. The hazy, fragmented Synth riff that bounces above the choral backing vocals is a highlight of the song because it makes things feel a little wonky in the best way. It was also nice to hear some raw vocals and Surf-like guitar rhythms that reminded me a little bit of The Avalanches since Marc’s vocals sound like something that Australian duo would sample among their hundreds of unreleased recordings. Although a little forgettable, ‘Christmas Bop’ is still a good alternative to the annualized yawners from Elton John or Paul McCartney with its mix of rarity and nostalgia. Despite studio issues, it is a well-produced Psych-tinged effort.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Messing With The Mystic” (LP) (Released In 1994) (via Edsel Records)

That’s enough of my ‘Bopping’ to Bolan for today! Thank you for continuing to support my content daily on the blog, and I’ll be back tomorrow with a post that has an air of sadness to it. That’s because it will be our last regular installment of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ until the beginning of January, as I have something special planned for December. To end the series on a high note, we’ll be looking at a well-known single by a mid-90’s Alt-Rock group whose frontwoman was vital to Black British music history.

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Today’s Track: Sam Evian – ‘Never Know’

November 22, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Time To Melt’ (LP) (Released on October 29, 2021) (via Fat Possum Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and I hope to inject some energy into your Monday as we go for something that sounds a little retro, not forgetting that it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! A New York-based songwriter, producer and guitarist, Sam Evian is a Broolyn-born indie rock and psychedelic pop recorder whose music is pitched as a soft blend between 60’s Jangle Pop, Americana and 70’s tinged Psychedelic soft rock that nods towards Sly & The Family Stone and T-Rex, as well as each of the classic Soul legends who have inspired him. Having previously released his material on Saddle Creek Records, his third studio album – ‘Time To Melt’ – has shifted him over to Fat Possum Records, and it has received a positive reception from publications like The Quietus, Uncut, Mojo and Glide Magazine, with further support from BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Huw Stephens and MPR’s The Current, since it was released a handful of weeks ago. The follow-up to 2018’s ‘You, Forever’ – which Digital Trends have included in their rankings of their best albums of that year – ‘Time To Melt’ is a backward-looking collection of fun tracks where his studio does the talking. It was recorded at his own studio, Flying Cloud Recordings, located in a Catskills Town in Upstate New York with his frequent collaborator and real-life partner, Hannah Cohen, during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. It also features remote production work from The War On Drugs’ producer Jon Natchez, as well as contributions from Chris Bear and Spencer Tweedy. Check out his final pre-release single off the LP, ‘Never Know’, below.

Sam Evian had this to say about ‘Never Know’ in his press release, “Never Know is kind of about escapism, dystopian realities and aliens. Sometimes it’s more fun to sit there and look out, you know?”, adding, “It’s a wild time to be alive, for better or worse. It used to be that we only had fiction and conspiracy to feed off our real-world fantasies. Now we have fighter pilots coming forward about strange, impossible experiences they’ve had in the sky”, to his notes. Exploring some distinctive subject matter on ‘Never Know’, Sam Evian seems to suggest that George Harrison was his favourite member of The Beatles with his slide guitar outro and his instrumentation which nods towards progressive Soul artists like Curtis Harding and Issac Hayes. Evian calls out to the skies for answers beyond our understanding with lyrics like “I look in the eyes of the one who loves me/Can we live in the afterglow?” and he touches on how he sees the world as a human with later lyrics like “Is there life in the great wide open?/I saw some in the sky today/But my eyes are always joking” above some twinkling keyboard riffs and slightly distorted bass riffs that echo the science vs. fiction themes of his songwriting. Therefore, he uses the idea of escaping our world to a path beyond our own by looking past the social constructs of our current reality and leaning into what could be as a hook being expressed through the swooning basslines that imply a sense of fantasy and reverie. Overall, Sam Evian manages to strike a good balance between serious and silly on his recent track, ‘Never Know’, as he combines honeyed vocals with nostalgic, 70’s-esque guitar riffs with some more ethereal elements of his Dream-Rock and Psychedelic-leaning sound. As a result, it never feels like too much of a bad pastiche or a caricature, but it takes solid influence from the vintage to fall on the softer side of pioneering 70’s Funk and Soul acts like Parliament.

Pictured: Sam Evian in promotional artwork for ‘Time To Melt’ (2021) (Photo Credit: Josh Goleman)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking in with me on the blog today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for something that diverts our focus to the electronic and ambient realm of releases instead. The music comes from another artist who is based in New York. Formerly known as Ital, his brand new album has just been issued on Planet Mu.

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Way Back Wednesdays: The Runaways – “Black Leather”

October 13, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘And Now… The Runaways’ (LP) (Released in 1978) (via Cherry Red Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and its time for me to drop a written ‘Cherry Bomb’ into your line of sight for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It is a pity that an all-female Punk rock band are still a bit of a novelty in 2021. There are a couple – such as Dream Wife, Shonen Knife and Sleater-Kinney – but The Runaways were widely considered to be the first group of gals to really do it when they formed in 1976, and, despite only being around as a band for a few years together, became an international sensation in territories like Japan, where ‘Cherry Bomb’ was a particular smash hit. Their time came to an end with the release of ‘And Now… The Runaways’ in 1978, which was their first and only album without Vicki Blue as their bassist, who left the project. The record seemed to get a rather contentious response from their fans, as the LP went through a period of ‘developmental hell’ where they brought a producer, John Alcock, on board for the first time, who reportedly tried to phase Joan Jett out of proceedings a little and he recruited Laurie McAllister as a new bassist shortly after the record was released to the public. The record also has a few cover songs instead of original tracks, such as ‘Black Leather’, a track originally written and performed by The Sex Pistols in 1980. However, as time wore on, the record earned a cult following because it served as a great introduction to The Runaways for a new generation of fans and it also exhibited a harder, more diverse variety of sounds than we heard The Runaways explore before. Let’s spin the highlight ‘Black Leather’ below.

‘And Now.. The Runaways’ received a remastered release by fan favourite revivalists Cherry Red Records a few years ago, and most of the album’s bass parts were actually played by Lita Ford. For your information, a coming-of-age biopic movie about The Runaways – titled after the band – was released in 2010, which starred Kristen Stewart as Cherie Currie, who actually played the role to perfection. It was directed by Italian-Canadian filmmaker Floria Sigismondi in her feature-length debut, and it also starred the likes of Dakota Fanning and Michael Shannon, and it earned a worldwide gross of over $4.6 million. The 5-piece loved their black leather fashion, and their take on The Sex Pistols lesser-known 1980 original was a feisty ode to their rebellious philosophy. The guitar melodies come thick and fast, while lyrics like “Well, he’s all geared up, walking down the street/I can see the smile, dripping down his sleeve” and “It’s late at night, and I’m all alone/I can hear the boots getting hear her home” flirt with Slasher horror movie tropes and reveals some more maturity for The Runaways, who previously sang about leaving their parents behind or misbehaving at school quite regularly in earlier releases. It definitely sounds like they were running away from something or someone, however, and you can see what I’ve done there. The overall instrumentation is a fairly good combination of pre-established Grunge and of-the-time underground Punk sounds, with some more catchy Pop-oriented hooks and rhythmic sequences in the chorus, where lines like “He’s clawing at the door/I can’t take it anymore” stick out a little from the pack on paper. The vocals feel raw and nicely unpolished, while the rapid fire drums and guitar combo has a rough edge to it. The vocals also sound a little jagged and disjointed in the mix however, and I think it’s because they simply feel a little disorienting in how it flows with the rest of the mixture, as opposed to it being a bad vocal performance on its own. I don’t think ‘Black Leather’ is their strongest, however, but it makes a good pick for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ because it feels underrated and less obvious or over-played than other options from their discography. The music had not changed as much as some older fans seemed to think at the time, but it simply sounds heavier and less polished. All in all – it was a decent and more adult-oriented evolution for the group despite its flaws.

Pictured: Joan Jett (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals), Sandy West (Drums/Percussion), Micki Steele (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), Lita Ford (Lead Guitar/Acoustic Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Cherrie Curie (Tambourine/Snare Drum) in LA (1976) (Photo by Bob Gruen)

Thank you for checking out my latest post and thank you for your continued support for my work. I’ll be back with a new episode of my ‘The Subculture Sessions’ podcast that you can stream on Spotify, and I’ll have another new daily post on the blog as usual. I’ll be introducing you to one of my favourite recent discoveries, who I heard on a recent episode of ‘The New Music Fix’ hosted by John Ravenscroft. They are a new London-based electronic duo of multi-instrumentalists who have been in the studio with Skrillex and Park Hye Jin – and they’ve worked in A&R for Silver Bear Recordings.

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Today’s Track: Art D’Ecco – ‘Head Rush’

October 4, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘In Standard Definition’ (LP) (Released on April 23, 2021) (via Paper Bag Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and – you guessed it! – the time has arrived for me to get typing up on the blog for yet another daily track on the blog, because its always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Art D’Ecco – whose actual birth name has still not been unveiled to the public – is a Canadian Neo-Glam Art-Rocker whose music draws some common comparisons to David Bowie, The Cure and Sparks. After growing up in Victoria and working as a restaurant line chef through his teenage years, he turned to a creative life as a musician when he played the guitar in Jason Corbett’s band Speed To Kill. Fast forward to 2018 and, after producing his first solo LP with nothing but a Piano and an iPhone, he debuted his now-signature look of his colourful bob wig and his androgynous make-up in time for his follow-up LP, ‘Trespasser’, to arrive via Paper Bag Records. His most recent studio album – ‘In Standard Definition’ – was released on 23rd April on the same label and it marks the start of another ambitious chapter in his career. A concept album – Art’s latest record is an exploration of the familiar tropes of a celebrity-fixated society in today’s media industry, an examination of popular culture and its effect on our attitudes with a fresh angle, and it was created on a 50-year-old console through an analog format. Check out the single, ‘Head Rush’, below.

‘Head Rush’ was co-produced with fellow Vancouver-based indie rock musician Colin Stewart (Yukon Blonde, Kathryn Calder), and Art D’Ecco notes, “It’s a song about the head rush of our youth – nostalgia is a powerful drug, it distorts and reframes the past, often reconciling our memories into one place for our easy access and to better suit our current disposition or state of mind”, adding, “I wanted all the hallmarks of a classic Rock song – the kind of music that used to blast from the kitchen radio at the summer jobs I’d worked at as a teen”, to his comments. While others were pondering whether there is Life On Mars, a few of Bowie’s fans could have easily been out partying to ‘Head Rush’ between Ziggy’s album releases if it was being released back in the 70’s. The jazzy hand claps and the smoky backing vocals have a lush air of Queen to them, while the wistful Horn section explodes with an ascending guitar solo that feels Bolan-like in all of its glory. The blueprints of an effective Bowie hit from the 80’s are here too, with some layered harmonization of the vocals and the Synth-less guitar arrangements that feel quite simple and hassle-free in the core production standards. There’s also a small fragment of Glammed-Up Pop that harkens back to Roxy Music when the Saxophone riffs add some more joyful rejoice to the sound of the chorus. The lyrics do the job nicely too, with reminiscent lyrics like “So wild and so free, I’m right back where I wanna be” and “Hit and miss, I reminisce how we drank on the street” that play on the youthful energy that came from everybody knowing who you were on the streets of your town, with Art later proclaiming “All I want is the head rush” to the beat of some extravagant Horn samples and some rumbling Drum melodies. This is a very solid single, overall, with a clear theme and some interesting influences behind it. Although a little forgettable, it feels vibrant and colourful as the diverse instrumentation and the art direction complement the 70’s throwback style of the music, and the vocals are all delivered with a candy-floss shine that makes the sound feel old, and so Art fulfills his goals as the artist. A crowd-pleasing rush of glam.

Pictured: Art D’Ecco in a PR shoot for ‘In Standard Definition’ (2021) (Photo Credit: Mike Pepperdine)

That’s all for today! Thank you, as always, for your continued support for the blog, and I’ll be back for some more of the same tomorrow where, one week on from my assessment of the new solo LP from Marlowe’s Solemn Brigham, we’ll be looking at the new solo album from the leading man of another familiar band, Chicano Batman.

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